Sealed doors



Sept0 3, 1946. H. J. BUTTNER SEALED DOORS Filed Oct. 25, 1945 3Sheets-Sheet l SePt- 3, 1946. H. J. BUTTNER 2,406,942

SEALED DOORS v Filed oct. 23, 1943 5 sheets-sheet' 2 62 Bnventor rrnPatented Sept. 3, 1946 SEALED Doons Horace J. Buttner, Indianapolis,Ind., assignor to General Motors Corporation, Detroit, Mich., a

corporation f Delaware Application October 23, 1943, Serial No. 507,399

This invention relates to closures such as doors to exclude or keep outnoises and gases which are produced in rooms or chambers for testingaircraft engines.

6 Claims. (Cl. 20-16) The usual testing space or room for aircraftengines comprises a room in which the engine is mounted on a block,while adjacent thereto and separated by a wall having a transparentpanel and a door, there is a second room for the observer and tester andin this second room there are a plurality of instruments and controls totest and to operate the engine and determine its reliability orefficiency.

In making these tests, it has been found that the door between theengine room and the operators room has allowed noxious fumes fromtheengine to enter the operators room, and there also has beentransmitted a considerable amount of objectionable noise caused by theoperation of the engine. the operators standpoint, and in a measuredetract from his careful observance of the instruments and theobservance of the operation of the engine.

To eliminate the transmission of noises and noxious fumes from theengine compartment to the operators compartment, the closure between thetwo rooms was redesigned so that there will be one door on each side ofthe wall or partition, and in closed position these doors will restagainst a sealing strip of yieldable material such as rubber, and byevacuating part of the air between the two doors, the outside airpressure causes the doors to be tightly pressed against the sealingstrip to make a closure which is substantially gastight andsubstantially soundproof. This closure, it was found, removes thedisadvantages of the noxious fumes and diminishes the noises to a degreewhere they are unobjectionable.

The closure of the invention is also applicable to other uses such asrefrigerators where it is desired to prevent exchange of heat and theescape of annoying gases such as ammonia fumes.

On the drawings:

Figure 1 is a face view of the partition or wall between two adjacentrooms with the sliding door shown in elevation in closed position.

Figure la is an enlarged detailed View of the door mounting.

Figures 2 and 3 are sections on an enlarged scale on the lines 2-2 and 33 of Figure l, the intermediate part of the doors and the wall beingbroken away to facilitate the illustration.

Figure 4 is .a section on the line 4-4 of Figure Both of these areobjectionable from v 't top of the opening 6 and down the sides.

5, showing a modied form of closure having hinged doors instead ofsliding doors.

Figure 5 is a section on the line 5 5 -of Figure 4.

Figures 6 and 8 are views, similar to Figure 3, of a modication.

Figure 7 is a section on the line 'I-l of Figure 6.

With reference .to the drawings, the numeral 2 indicates the wallbetween adjacent rooms, and 4 :the floor ofthe rooms. The wall and floormay be made of any suitable material such as concrete, brick, wood andplaster, etc. The wall is -provided with a door opening 6, and to eachside of the Wall at the opening there is applied an anglesha'ped framemember 8 which extends across the At the bottom of the opening anddepressed iin the iioor 4 a channel-shaped frame member Iii is secured.This frame member I0 has the flange I2 directed inwardly of the door.`Secondary frame members I4, extendingalong the sides and top of theopening 6, are secured to the frame members 8 by means of the bolts IS.A fabric or rubber strip I8 is placed between the main frame members 8and the secondary frame members I4 to form a seal. At the bottom of theopening 6 and over the flanges I2 there are secured the secondary framemembers 20 which cooperate with the frame members I4.

At each side of the opening 5 there is mounted a sliding closure ormetal door 22 and, as the structure of both doors and the mountingthereof are similar, the structure and mounting for but one will bedescribed. The door extends downwardly into the channel of the lowerframe member I0, and at its lower part has secured thereto a iiexibleflap 24 which overlaps and covers the channel II) when the door is inclosed position. The ap 24 may be secured to the door by means of themetal strip 26 and the bolts 28.

At the top of the door there are secured two brackets 3 each of whichhas a flange 32 at its upper end. A bolt 34 extends through the flangeand is retained thereon by a nut 35. The bolt passes through a head 38and suitable nuts 4E! above and below the head hold the bolt in place inthe head. Extending laterally from the head are axles on which aremounted wheels 42 which run on tracks 44 at the bottom of achannelshaped member 46 secured to a bracket 48 which is secured to theframe ymembers 8 by means of bolts. The track extends beyond the widthof the door as is shown in Figure 1, and by sliding the door to the leftthe door opening 6 is exposed to enable passage from one room to theother.

Each auxiliary frame member I4 at each side aioaofia of the opening lhas secured thereto a channel iron l) in which there is secured a softrubber strip This channel 50 and the rubber 52 extend along the sides ofthe opening and across the to-p while at the bottom a rubber strip 54 issecured by means of bolts and nuts 56 to one of the iianges of theU-shaped frame member l0. In the closed position oi" the doors, the dooredges overlap slightly the rubber strips 52 and 54, and if the airbetween the doors or in the opening 6 as shown in Figure 2 can beexhausted, tending to create a vacuum in the space between the doors,the air pressure from the outside will cause the doors to be pressedtightly against the rubber strips 52 and 5d and form a tight seal.

In order to enable the evacuation of the air, there is provided a pipeor conduit El] which leads from the inter-door space to the outside, andby connecting any pump to the exit 62 of the conduit Gli, the air in thespace between the doors can be partially evacuated to reduce thepressure and to give what may be called a pneumatic seal between thechambers. It has been found in practice that this seal will prevent thenoxious gases from the engine reaching the operating room and will alsoeliminate the objectionable noises caused by the operation of theengine.

It desired, suitable expansion joints 54 may be provided in the iioor.

In Figure e, the structure is shown as applied to a closure which hashinged doors 22 instead or" the sliding doors shown in Figures l3inclusive. The doors 22 are hinged at 65 and each door opening e isprovided with the frame members at both edges thereof, These framemembers are secured to the walls 2 by means of the bolts 63. The framemembers B extend on the iour sides of the opening and have at theirouter edges the soit rubber sealing strips 52', secured by the slatslili, and against these soft rubber strips the edges of the doorsI 22abut when the doors are in closed position, as is best seen in Figure4l. rlhe doors 2?! may be made of any suitable material, and in thedrawings they are shown as being made oi a panel comprising laminatedwood held together between edge frame members lit It desired, the walls2 may be provided with any suitable soundprooiing material l2.

With the doors in the position shown in Figure 4i, a pump is applied toa conduit 6! (not shown in Figures ll and 5, but see Figures 1 and 3) toexhaust the air between the doors 22 to create a zone of reducedpressure in the space between the doors. The outside air pressure willcause the doors to be pressed tightly against the rubber strips to sealthe closure and form a sound proof and gas proof closure in the wall 2.

In Figures 6-3 inclusive, two species of sealed door arerdisclosed whichoperate with air under pressure instead of with exhausted air. In Figure6 the wall It is provided with a door opening E6 and a recessed wallpart 13. A metal frame member El] is placed on one side of the wall andmetal frame members 82 and S4 are placed at the opposite side of theopening at the ends of the narrow wall parts lila and 'hib formed by therecess lil, The bottom of the door opening has the channels 33countersunk therein and which extend into the recessed part 'F8 to theend thereof. At the top of the opening the doors 22 are suspended by astructure such as shown in Figures la and 2.

An angle-shaped metal frame 88 is rigidly mounted at the inner and outersides of the door opening lli and a strip of rubber fabric 9i) or otherresilient material is secured to the frame 88. 'Ihe frames S8 at thebottom of the door are mounted in the channels Se.

In the position oi the parts shown in Figure 6, if air be forced throughthe inlet pipe 92 into the conduit Ella, the air pressure will press thedoors against the material Si) to form a tight seal. When the airpressure is relieved, the doors 22 can be slid into the recess 'i8 toenable access to the testing room.

In Figure 8 a chamber or cabinet 95 is mounted in the wall lll. Thischamber is open at its inner and outer sides and these openings havedoors 22a hingedly mounted thereover. The doors are mounted to swinginwardly of the cabinet '94.

The door openings have the edge flanges y9S and a rubber or fabric stripis secured to the flanges. With the parts in the position shown, airforced through the inlet pipe 92 and through the conduit will cause thedoors 22a to be pressed against the rubber SB to form a tight seal. Whenthe pressure is relieved, the doors may be moved inwardly on theirhinges to enable passage through the chamber 94.

I claim:

l. In a wall having an opening therethrough, a closure for said openingcomprising two doors controlling access into said opening from bothsides of the wall, means secured to the wall and supporting said doorsfor movement to open positions enabling access into said opening and toclosed spaced positions closing said opening, sealing means adapted tobe contacted by said doors when closed, the rst-mentioned means and walldefining with said doors and sealing means a closed space when saiddoors are closed, and means communicating with said closed space toenable changing the air pressure in said closed space to cause saiddoors to be pressed against said sealing means in substantially gastightrelation.

2. In a wall having an opening therethrough, a closure for said openingcomprising doors secured to the sides of the wall and controlling accessinto said opening, peripheral sealing means mounted near the edgesdefining said opening and adapted to be contacted by said doors whenclosed, the doors when closed being spaced and closing said opening todefine with the wall a closed space, and a conduit communicating withsaid closed space to enable changing the air pres sure therein to causethe doors to be pressed against the sealing means in substantiallygastight relation.

3. In a wall having `an opening therethrough, a closure for said openingcomprising a door secured to each side of the wall, the doors when openadmitting access to said opening and when closed overlying said opening,sealing means eX- tending 'entirely about and around .said opening, thedoors when closed defining with the wall a closed space, and a conduitcommunicating with said closed space to enable reduction vof airpressure therein to cause the doors to be pressed against the sealingmeans in substantially .gastight relation.

4. In a wall having an opening therethrough, a closure for said openingcomprising spaced doors controlling passage therethrough, means securingthe doors within said opening and having peripheral sealing means nearthe edges delining said opening, said wall having a recess providingwithin the wall an extension of said opening adapted to receive thedoors when open, said sealing means .being in continuous contact withthe doors when closed, and a closed space being provided by the closeddoors with the rst-mentioned means and said extension in the wall, and aconduit communicating with said closed space to enable increasing theair pressure therein above atmospheric pressure to cause the doors to bepressed against the sealing means in substantially gastight relation.

5. A closure for an opening extending through a Wall, said closurecomprising two doors, means for securing the doors in substantiallygastight relation to the wall and for supporting the doors for movementto open positions enabling access into said opening, and sealing meansadapted to be contacted continuously by said doors near theirperipheries when in their closed positions, the first-mentioned meansand closed doors defining a closed space, and said closure having meanscommunicating with said closed space to enable changing the air pressurein said closed space to cause the doors to be pressed against thesealing means in substantially gastight relation.

6. A closure for an opening extending through a wall, said closurecomprising two spaced doors and means for supporting the doors formovement to open positions enabling access into said opening and toclosed positions closing said opening, said means being adapted to bemounted in said opening in substantially gastight relation to the walland having sealing means adapted to be contacted continuously by thedoors near their peripiheries when in their closed positions, therst-mentioned means being substantially gastight and dening with theclosed doors a closed space, and the first-mentioned means having meansto provide communication with said closed space to enable changing theair pressure therein to cause the doors to be pressed against the 20sealing means in substantially gastight relation.

HORACE J. BUTTNER.

